Spike Jones
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Spike Jones | |
---|---|
Born | Lindley Armstrong Jones December 14, 1911 Long Beach, California, U.S. |
Died | May 1, 1965 Beverly Hills, California, U.S. | (aged 53)
Occupations |
|
Years active | 1930s | –1965
Spouses | |
Children | Spike Jones Jr. Leslie Ann Jones |
Lindley Armstrong "Spike" Jones (December 14, 1911 – May 1, 1965)
Early years
Lindley Armstrong Jones was born in
Spike Jones and His City Slickers
Jones became bored playing the same music each night with the orchestras. He found other like-minded musicians and they began playing parodies of standard songs for their own entertainment. The musicians wanted their wives to share their enjoyment, so they recorded their weekly performances. One of the recordings made its way into the hands of an
From 1937 to 1942, Jones was the percussionist for
The City Slickers developed from the Feather Merchants, a band led by vocalist-clarinetist Del Porter, who took a back seat to Jones during the group's embryonic years.[7] They made experimental records for the Cinematone Corporation and performed publicly in Los Angeles, gaining a small following. Original members included vocalist-violinist Carl Grayson, banjoist Perry Botkin, trombonist King Jackson and pianist Stan Wrightsman.[citation needed]
The band's early records were issued on RCA Victor's budget-priced Bluebird label, but were soon moved to the more-prestigious Victor label. They recorded extensively for the company until 1955. They also starred in various radio programs (1945–1949) and in their own NBC and CBS television shows from 1954 to 1961.
Orchestra members
During the 1940s, prominent band members included:
- George Rock (trumpet, and vocals from 1944 to 1960)
- Mickey Katz (clarinet, vocals)
- Doodles Weaver (vocals – specialized in playing sports commentators and absentminded singers who persistently scrambled their lyrics into malapropisms and digressed into stand-up comedy)
- Red Ingle (sax, vocals)
- Frank Rehak (trombone)
- Del Porter (clarinet, vocals)
- Carl Grayson (violin, vocals)
- Perry Botkin (banjo)
- Country Washburne (tuba)
- Luther "Red" Roundtree (banjo)
- Earl Bennett, a.k.a. Sir Frederick Gas (vocals)
- Joe Siracusa (drums; died 2021)[8]
- Joe Colvin (trombone)
- Roger Donley (tuba)
- Dick Gardner (baritone sax, clarinet, violin)
- Paul Leu (piano)
- Jack Golly (alto sax, clarinet)
- John Stanley (trombone)
- Don Anderson (trumpet)
- Charlotte Tinsley (harp)
- Eddie Metcalfe (saxophone)
- Dick Morgan (banjo)
- George Lescher (piano)
- Freddy Morgan (banjo, vocals)
- A. Purvis Pullen, a.k.a. Dr. Horatio Q. Birdbath (bird calls, dog barks)
- Russ "Candy" Hall (bass, tuba)
The band's 1950s personnel included:
- Helen Grayco (vocals)
- Earl Bennett, as Sir Frederick Gas
- Billy Barty (vocals and comedy routines, including impersonations of Liberace)
- Lock Martin (comedy routines)
- Freddy Morgan (banjo)
- Peter James (vocals)
- Jad Paul (banjo)
- Gil Bernal (sax, vocals)
- Paul Garner (vocals)
- Bernie Jones (sax, vocals)
- Phil Gray (trombone)
- Marilyn Olsen Oliveri (vocals, harp)
The liner notes for at least two RCA compilation albums claimed that the two Morgans were brothers (the 1949 radio shows actually billed them as "Dick and Freddy Morgan"), but this was not true; Freddy's real name was Morgenstern.[9] Peter James (who was sometimes billed as Bobby Pinkus) and Paul "Mousie" Garner were former members of Ted Healy's stage act on Broadway. James joined Healy for a two-year run in the Shubert revue A Night in Spain (1927–1928) where he worked alongside Shemp Howard and Larry Fine. Mousie joined with Healy from 1931 to 1932 after Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Shemp Howard had their first split with Ted, and with fellow Healy "stooges" Dick Hakins and Jack Wolfe, appeared in the Broadway shows The Gang's All Here and Billy Rose's Crazy Quilt. Mousie, with Hakins and Sammy Glasser (aka Sammy Wolfe) rejoined Healy in 1937 for radio and personal appearances, until Healy's death in December 1937.
Spike Jones's second wife, singer Helen Grayco, performed in his stage and television shows.[1]
Record hits
"Der Fuehrer's Face"
A
Recorded just days before the recording ban, Jones scored a huge broadcast hit late in 1942 with "
More spoof songs
The romantic ballad "Cocktails for Two", originally written to evoke an intimate romantic rendezvous, was re-recorded by Spike Jones in 1944 as a raucous, horn-honking, voice-gurgling, hiccuping hymn to the cocktail hour. The Jones version was a huge hit.
Other Jones spoofs followed: "Hawaiian War Chant", "Chloe", "Holiday for Strings", "You Always Hurt the One You Love",[10] "My Old Flame" and "Laura"
"Ghost Riders"
Spike's 1949 parody of
CHORUS: ...'cause all we hear is "Ghost Riders" sung by Vaughn Monroe.
I.W. HARPER: I can do without his singing.
SIR FREDERICK GAS: But I wish I had his dough!
The official American release edited out the dig at Monroe, because Monroe, a popular RCA Victor recording artist and also a major RCA stockholder, demanded it.[13] The original version was released in the European market. (A limited number of original 78 rpm pressings containing the first ending were mistakenly released on the West Coast and are a prized rarity today.) The original recording with the unedited ending was later issued on a German RCA LP collection and on some CD and audio tape releases containing the song.
"Trailer Annie"
In the 1940s, Spike also recorded a comedic song titled "Trailer Annie", about a woman who tries to find a job in the United States military.
"All I Want for Christmas"
Jones's recording, "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth", with a piping vocal by George Rock, was a number-one hit in 1948. (Dora Bryan recorded a 1963 variation, "All I Want For Christmas is a Beatle".)
Murdering the Classics
Among the recordings Spike Jones and his City Slickers made in the 1940s were many humorous takes on
In 1944, RCA Victor released "Spike Jones presents for the Kiddies" version of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite, in three 10 inch 78 rpm records, P-143, arrangement credited to Joe "Country" Washburne with lyrics by Foster Carling. The set was also issued by RCA Victor on three 7 inch vinyl 45 rpm records in 1949 as WP-143 and on one 45rpm "extended play" record, EPA-143 in 1952. An abridged and re-sequenced version of the recording is also included in the aforementioned RCA Red Seal 'classics' album, with the complete original version available on the CD collection Spiked: The Music of Spike Jones.
Radio
After appearing as the house band on
Spike Jones and His Other Orchestra
While Jones enjoyed the fame and prosperity, he was annoyed that nobody seemed to see beyond the craziness. Determined to show the world that he was capable of producing legitimate "pretty" music, he formed a second group in 1946. Spike Jones and His Other Orchestra played lush arrangements of dance hits. This alternate group played nightclub engagements and was an artistic success, but the paying public preferred the City Slickers and stayed away. Jones wound up paying some of the band's expenses out of his own pocket. Some of the City Slickers band members appeared and recorded with the Other Orchestra, but most of the Other Orchestra personnel consisted of "serious," accomplished studio musicians from the Los Angeles area.
The one outstanding recording by the Other Orchestra is "Laura", which features a serious first half (played exquisitely by the Other Orchestra) and a manic second half (played for laughs by the City Slickers).
Jones's son, Spike Jones Jr., called attention to the precision of his father's most outlandish musical arrangements: "One of the things that people don't realize about Dad's kind of music is, when you replace a C-sharp with a gunshot, it has to be a C-sharp gunshot or it sounds awful."[14]
Movies
In 1940, Jones had an uncredited bandleading part in the Dead End Kids film Give Us Wings, appearing on camera for about four seconds.
As the band's fame grew, Hollywood producers hired the Slickers as a specialty act for feature films, including
Soundies
In 1942, the Jones gang worked on numerous
Television
Jones saw the potential of television and filmed two half-hour pilot films, Foreign Legion and Wild Bill Hiccup, in the summer of 1950. Veteran comedy director
Later years
The virtual disappearance of
Jones was always prepared to adapt to changing tastes. In 1950, when America was nostalgically looking back at the 1920s, Jones recorded a straight album of Charleston arrangements. In 1953, he responded to the growing market for children's records, with tunes aimed directly at kids (like "Socko, the Smallest Snowball"). Over the years, Jones had become increasingly unhappy at RCA Victor due to management censoring his recordings and other matters, and he left the label in 1955. His later recordings were issued by
Personal life
Jones had four children: Linda (by his first wife, Patricia),
Jones was a lifelong heavy smoker, reportedly 4-5 packs a day, and eventually he developed breathing problems, including emphysema. Never the picture of health, his emphysema advanced to the point where he used an oxygen tank both on and offstage and he was confined to a seat behind his drum set while performing. In spite of his illness, he continued smoking until his death on May 1, 1965, at the age of 53. He is interred in Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California.[17]
His second wife, Helen Grayco, died as a result of cancer in Los Angeles on August 20, 2022, at the age of 97.
Influence and legacy
There is a clear line of influence from
Syndicated radio personality Dr. Demento regularly features Jones' records on his program of comedy and novelty tracks. Jones is mentioned in The Band's song, "Up on Cripple Creek". (The song's protagonist's paramour states of Jones: "I can't take the way he sings, but I love to hear him talk.") Novelist Thomas Pynchon is an admirer and wrote the liner notes for a 1994 CD reissue, Spiked! (BMG Catalyst). A scene in the romantic comedy I.Q. shows a man demonstrating the sound of his new stereo to Meg Ryan's character by playing a Jones recording.
In the 1948 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated short Back Alley Oproar, a caterwauling Sylvester the Cat does a Spike Jones-inspired solo finale cover of "Angel in Disguise" by opening with a brief, serious-sounding introduction before immediately breaking into a jazzy rendition featuring a collection of crazy sound effects produced by firing guns, breaking bottles and exploding firecrackers among other sounds, much to Elmer Fudd's annoyance.[20]
Spike Jones is referenced several times in the American TV series
In 1974, Tony Levin (future bass player for King Crimson), recording under the name, The Clams, released a Spike Jones tribute of him giving the songs "Close to You" by The Carpenters and "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" by Roberta Flack, the Jones treatment.[22]
In 1986, the
In 1997, singers
Both Spike Milligan[25] and Spike Jonze[26] were nick-named in reference to Jones.
Discography
- Spike Jones Plays the Charleston (1950)
- Bottoms Up, Polka (1952)
- Spike Jones Murders Carmen and Kids the Classics (1953)
- Dinner Music For People Who Aren't Very Hungry(1956)
- Spike Jones Presents a Xmas Spectacular (1956) (reissued as It's a Spike Jones Christmas and Let's Sing a Song of Christmas)
- Hi Fi Polka Party (1957)
- Spike Jones in Stereo (1959) (reissued as Spike Jones in Hi Fi)
- Omnibust (1960)
- 60 Years of "Music America Hates Best" (1960)
- Thank You Music Lovers! (1960) (reissued as The Best of Spike Jones in 1967 and 1975)
- Rides, Rapes and Rescues (1960)
- Washington Square (1963)
- Spike Jones New Band (1964)
- My Man (1964)
- The New Band of Spike Jones Plays Hank Williams Hits (1965)
- Spike Jones Is Murdering the Classics (1971)
- The Best of Spike Jones Volume 2 (1977)
- Spike Jones and His Other Orchestra, 1946 (Hindsight Records HUK185 1982)
- Never Trust a city Slicker: Standard Transcription Discs 1942–1944 (Harlequin HQ2042 1986)
Select singles
Year | Title | Chart positions |
---|---|---|
US | ||
1942 | "Clink, Clink, Another Drink" | 23 |
"Der Fuehrer's Face" | 3 | |
1944 | "Behind Those Swinging Doors" | 20 |
1945 | "Cocktails for Two" | 4 |
"Leave the Dishes in the Sink, Ma" | 14 | |
"Chloe" | 5 | |
"Holiday for Strings" | 10 | |
1946 | " Hawaiian War Chant (Ta-Hu-Wa-Hu-Wai) "
|
8 |
1948 | "William Tell Overture" | 6 |
"All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth" | 1 | |
1949 | "Ya Wanna Buy a Bunny?" | 24 |
"Dance of the Hours" | 13 | |
1950 | "Chinese Mule Train" | 13 |
" Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer "
|
7 | |
1951 | "Tennessee Waltz" | 13 |
" Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer "
|
22 | |
1952 | "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" | 4 |
1953 | "I Went to Your Wedding" | 20 |
References
- ^ ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
- ISBN 9781439665589.
- ^ "Spike Jones". IMDb.com. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
- ^ a b c d Okon, May (October 3, 1954). "Spike to the Guns!". New York Sunday News. Archived from the original on May 16, 2015. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
- ^ "JOHN SCOTT TROTTER: A MUSICAL HEAVYWEIGHT". Community.mcckc.edu. Archived from the original on 24 July 2006. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
- ^ Wadey, Paul (27 March 2006). "Cindy Walker – Country songwriter". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 2015-03-19.
- ^ "Del Porter Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
- ^ "Joe Siracusa, Hollywood animation executive and Spike Jones' drummer, dead at 99". pasadenastarnews.com. November 17, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
- IMDb. Archivedfrom the original on 2015-10-17. Retrieved 2015-03-17.
- OCLC 31611854. Tape 1, side B.
- ^ "Spike Jones Can't Stop Murdering". February 22, 2016. Archived from the original on February 22, 2016. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
- ^ Cocktails For Two, Pro-Arte PCD 516,1990, Side 2, Track 5.
- ^ Allmusic: The Best of Spike Jones, Volume 2.
- ^ "Brevity's Raincheck". Los Angeles Times. May 8, 1994. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
- ^ "The Museum of Broadcast Communications. The Colgate Comedy Hour". Archived from the original on October 9, 2009.
- ^ "The Ford Show Guest Guide". Ernieford.com. Archived from the original on November 28, 2010. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
- ^ ISBN 1-59393-012-7.
- ^ "Spike Jones jr". Sj2entertainment.com. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- ^ "Leslie Ann Jones". Skysound.com. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
- ^ "Back Alley Oproar - video Dailymotion". Dailymotion.com. 15 March 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
- ^ "Dr. Pierce and Mr. Hyde". IMDb.com. 13 October 1973.
- ^ "The Clams - Close To You". 45cat.com. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
- Philadelphia Inquirer. Archivedfrom the original on May 27, 2012. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
- The Times.
- ^ "Spike Milligan - Obituaries - Scotsman.com". 2012-10-21. Archived from the original on 2012-10-21. Retrieved 2022-12-14.
- ^ Smith, Ethan (October 18, 1999). "Spike Jonze Unmasked". New York. Retrieved August 19, 2008.
Other sources
- Gamble, Peter. Clink Clink Another Drink (Media notes). Audio Book & Music Company. ABMMCD 1158.
Further reading
- Corbett, Scott C. (1989). An Illustrated Guide to the Recordings of Spike Jones. Monrovia: Corbett. No ISBN.
- Mirtle, Jack (1986). Thank You Music Lovers: A Bio-discography of Spike Jones. Westport: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-24814-1.